Egg carton



H. A. INMAN May 5, 1931.

EGG CARTON Filed Dec. l2. 1929 )llllilillllllllllll Patented May 5, 1931 HARRY INMAN, F NEWARK, NEW YORK EGG CARTON Application led December 12, 1929, Serial No. 413,642.

rlhis invention `relates to egg cartons, and has for its principal object the provision of a generally improved carton which is 'simple and comparatively inexpensive to construct, and more satisfactory in use than previous cartons heretofore known.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a carton having means for sealing v the eggs against removal until the seal is lo broken, but permitting observation and inspelction of the eggs without breaking the sea A further object is the provision of an egg carton which is of improved appearance,and 1&5 which is conveniently arranged for display.

v To these and other ends the invention resides in certain. improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the novel features being 3@ pointed out in the claims at the end of the specification.

In theAdrawings: Fig. 1 is a perspective view of an egg carton Aconstructed in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the invention, illustrating the sealed egg retaining means` and showing the cover of the carton in its displayl position;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the retaining' dmeans removed from the carton;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section through the carton with thecover in' its disf play position;'

Fig. 4 is a similar view with the cover closed; and z .A Fig. 5 is al .fragmentary vertical section through a wall ofthe carton, a part of the -egg retaining means, and the seal for holding the latter.

Similar reference numerals throughout the several views indicate the same parts.

` The egg carton of the present invention preferably comprises a box body having a front wall 10, a rear wall 11, end walls 12, and a ottoni 13. Within this box body are placed sultable partition members, such as the longitudinal members 14.-, 15, and 16, and transverse members 17 which sub-divide the box into a plurality of compartments each 5o adapted to contain one egg, though obviously the compartments could be of such size as to contain two or more eggs.

Egg cartons consisting in general of a box body and sub-dividing partitions are known in the art, but such prior constructions are open to the objection that no sealing means is provided for retaining eggs against removal. Consequently,-the way is open for an unscrupulous dealer to remove high quality eggs originally packed in the carton and to substitute eggs of lower quality, palming them off on consumers as the high quality eggs originally packed in the carton. If it be attempted to seal the cover of the carton in closed position in order to prevent removal of eggs, the result is unsatisfactory because purchasers cannot readily inspect the eggs and many people are unwilling to buy eggs without having an opportunity to see what 7 they are buying. 0 d

In accordance with the present invention, egg retaining means is provided to prevent removal .of eggs or substitution of inferior eggs by the dealer, which retaining means is nevertheless arranged so that purchasers may easily observe the eggs. This retaining means is preferably in the form'of a sheet 18 of cardboard or other suitable sheet material of a size to cover the open top of the carton as illustrated in Fig. 1, this retaining mem- 3" ber having front and rear anges 19 .and 20 which extend downwardly alongside the front wall 10 and rear Wall 11, respectively, of the carton` The retaining member is provided with a series of perforations, openings, or apertures 21, preferably one arranged above each of the egg receiving compartments. Theseperforations are each smaller than an egg, so that eggs cannot be passed through them, but are sufficiently large so that eggs Within the compartments beneath the retaining member are clearly visible through the openings and may be readily inspected therethrough.

' In addition to preventing removal of eggs, the strips of the member 18 between the apertures overlies the Vupper edges of the partitions 14, 15, 16, and 17, and hide these edges, making the carton much more sightly and pleasing in appearance whenl the lid is open than previous cartons heretofore known.

While various arrangements might be employed for sealing the retaining member 18 1n place, it is preferred to employ seals in a relatively conspicuous position, so that if the seals' have been broken, a purchaser may easily observe thisA fact. In the present instance, the seals comprise members 22 of gummed paper or the like, at each end of the carton, adhesively connecting the ends of the retaining member 18 with the end walls 12 of the carton, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5. These seals 22, it will be observed, are in a relatively conspicuous position, so that a broken seal would be apt to be observed at In order to prevent unscrupulous dealers from breaking the seals, removing and replacing eggs, and again sealing up the carton, the seals preferably are specially formed so that dealers cannot easily obtain duplicates of them and so that counterfeiting thereof would be difficult. For example, the seals may be of special shape, and preferably are imprinted with a special design such as the trade mark oremblem of the original packer of the eggs. Thus when a purchaser uys a carton of eggs and nds the seals unbroken, he is assured that the eggs are the same ones originally packed in the carton by the egg packer whose trade mark or emblem .appears on the seals. If desired, provision may be made for printing or stamping the date of packin on theI seals or elsewhereon the carton. bviously the date on which the eggs were laid, or any other date preferred, may be used.

The carton is preferably provided with a cover member 25 formed integrally with the box body and integrally hinged to the back Wall 11 thereof by means of a crease line 26. This cover preferably has a crease line 27 arranged to come at the forward edge of the box, as shown in Fig. 4, when the cover is closed, the flap at the extreme edge of the carton being tucked downwardly between the front 'wall 10 of the carton and the front flange 19 of the retaining member 18.

Preferably the cover member also has an intermediate crease line 28, which is so placed that the cover may be folded to the display position shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. In this position, the cover is doubled upon itself along the line`28, and the extreme edge of the cover is tucked between the rear Wall 11 ofthe carton and the rear liange 20 of the retaining member. This holds the cover. in

erect position, as shown in Fig. 3, so that the' eggs are conveniently displayed, and so that the trade mark or advertising matter printed 0n the outside of the cover between the lines 27 and 28 or on. the front of the flap portion of the cover between the line 27 and the edge of the cover, may be readily seen. This is one of the important features of the invention, as it permits the carton to be printed on one side only of the sheet from which the carton is made, which is considerably less expensive than printing on both sides of the sheet. By this arrangement, although the carton blank is printed only on one side, yet the printed matter may be read both when the carton is in the closed position illustrated in Fi 4 and when it is in the display position il ustrated in Fig. 3.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that there is provided a generally improved carton which is particularly useful in connection with the distribution of eggs by established packers who have built up a substantial good will in connection with their products, and who do not wish to jeopardize that good will by packing eggs in such a way that inferior eggs could be substituted between the time the packages leave the packers'establshment and the tlme they reach the ultimate consumer. The present invention provides an ideal carton for use under such circumstances, without interfering substantially with the ordinary consumers desire-to inspect the eggs before purchasing them.A

While one embodiment of the invention has been disclosed, it is to be understood that the inventive idea may be carried out in a number of ways'. This application is therefore not to be limited to the precise details shown, but is intended to cover all variations and modifications thereof falling within the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

A11 egg carton comprising, in combination, a box body having one open side, partition members extending substantially perpendicular to the plane of said open side for subdividing said'bodyinto a plurality of egg receiving compartments, an egg retaining member substantially in the plane of said open side, said retaining member overlying and hiding the edges of said partition members and having a perforation of smaller size than an egg in alinement with each compartment, so that eggs in said compartments may be observed through said perforations but may not beremoved therethrough, sealing means for holding said retaining member in place, and a movable closure member overlying said retaining member.

2. An egg carton comprising, in combination, a box body having one open side, partition members for subdividing said body into aplurality of egg receiving compartments, an egg retaining member substantially in the plane of said open side, said retaining member having perforations smaller than an egg so that eggs in said compartments may be observed through said perforations but may not be removed therethrough, and visible sealing means for holding said retaining member inl place sol that a purchaser may easily see whether or vnot said sealing 'means has been broken. A

3. An egg carton comprising, in combination, a box body havin one open side, partition members for subd1viding said body into a plurality of egg receiving compartments, an

egg retaining member substantially in the lane of said open side, said retaining memer having perforations smaller than an e g so that eggs in said compartments may be o served through said perforations but may not be removed therethrough, visible sealing means for holding said retaining member in place, and a ciosure member hinged to said box body substantially along one edge of said o pen side, said closure :member having crease lines so formed that said closure member either may be closed to a position overlying 20 said retaining member with the extreme free edge of the closure member tucked between said retaining member and a wall of said box body at the edge of said open side opposite to that along which said closure member is hingedfor may be opened to an upstanding display position with the extreme free edge of the closure member tucked between s'ald retaining member and a wall of said box body at the same edge of said open side along which said closure member is hinged.

HARRY A. INMN. 

